


Petrarchan Sonnets from the Vatican Archive

by Petra



Category: The Borgias
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-14
Updated: 2011-12-14
Packaged: 2017-10-27 08:31:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/293773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petra/pseuds/Petra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These documents were recently smuggled out of the Vatican Secret Archive by an anonymous historian who asserts that they should belong to the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Petrarchan Sonnets from the Vatican Archive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Selena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selena/gifts).



Introduction:

These documents were recently smuggled out of the Vatican Secret Archives by an anonymous historian of some note who asserts that they should belong to the world. I have translated them from the 15th century Italian, preserving the spirit of the text in English. They appear to be poems written as part of the lessons of a young woman, and there are marginal notes in another hand, perhaps from her tutor. For ease of reading, I will present each poem twice, first as it appears without the marginalia, then with it so that the conversation between poet and tutor becomes clearer.

It is a tantalizing proposition to speculate on the identity of this document's unknown author. The last poem is signed "Your L. B." Historians with greater access to the records of Ferrara are investigating the possibility that "L. B." is in this case Lucrezia Borgia, and furthermore are examining the correspondence she received from Rome in her tenure there in order to find a possible match for her tutor's hand.

Early suspicions that the tutor might be Pietro Bembo are improbable. Despite his clear affection for the Petrarchan sonnet form and for Lucrezia Borgia, she would not have styled herself "L. B." during her relationship with him, as she had married; it is only historians' desire for clarity that retains her maiden patronymic intact. E. R. Spinelli, noted historian of the life of Alexander VI, suggests that the tutor may be Giulia Farnese, Adriana de Mila, or Vannozza dei Cattenei, though the latter is unlikely, given some of the frank sentiments in the poetry and the improbability that any young lady of any time would write such words in her mother's sight.

Further progress as to the precise dating of the sonnets will be difficult, as students of Bembo insist that his sonnets were the first to use the form of octave and sestet in Italian, but the obverse of several of the sheets include notes on the wedding of Lucrezia Borgia and other events that significantly pre-date Bembo's rise to fame.

It is possible that that the poetry was penned by a youth and his male tutor, corresponding in some period post-dating both Bembo and the Borgia ascendancy and fall. The probability that the writer and tutor were female adds a piquancy to some of the verses, and I believe that analysis supports the theory that the student was a woman, or a girl. The tutor's gender is less clear.

Taking the poetry as a body of art rather than historical artifacts, the poet appears to transcend his or her tutor, if the tutor's verses are exemplary of the said tutor's verse skills. The interweaving rhymes of the main pieces are more intricate than the innuendo-laden couplets of the responses, though the tone of the latter has a more mature voice in certain matters. It is possible that the tutor, while manifestly untutored him or herself in matters of poetry, taught the student far more practical skills than verse.

 

Texts:

 _Of a lady's role in society:_  
To live a lady's true and honest life  
Is not a task for faint hearts or weak souls.  
She keeps her poise through all the world's cold tolls  
A lady lives above the daily strife  
But places alms in all the begging bowls;  
She prays for mercy, mourns the death of foals;  
Her countenance is placid, maid or wife.  
Does such a lady breathe, or eat, or dance?  
Can such a paragon be true, be seen?  
Or is she but a dream, whom all men seek  
And hope to find her and to fall, entranced,  
In love with her, the earth's unearthly queen  
Who is in all things bold while seeming meek?

 _Of a lady's role in society_ [with commentary]:  
To live a lady's true and honest life  
Is not a task for faint hearts or weak souls.

[How true, my love, and yet we persevere]  
[And gain strength but lose comfort, year on year.]

She keeps her poise through all the world's cold tolls  
A lady lives above the daily strife  
But places alms in all the begging bowls;  
She prays for mercy, mourns the death of foals.

[You come quite near a sparrow here, my dove,]  
[That falls from grace and from the heav'n above]  
[And we should weep for sparrows, should we not,]  
[As Lesbia's bird will never be forgot?]

Her countenance is placid, maid or wife.  
Does such a lady breathe, or eat, or dance?  
Can such a paragon be true, be seen?  
Or is she but a dream, whom all men seek  
And hope to find her and to fall, entranced,  
In love with her, the earth's unearthly queen  
Who is in all things bold while seeming meek?

[If such a woman lives, you know her name]  
[And every man who sees her says the same]  
[For you are such a one, and so might I]  
[Make claims to hold such virtues, and we try]  
[To please the men who say they love us so]  
[By gracing courts and courtiers, although]  
[Should we aspire so high as to a king]  
[Our Father might rebuke our o'erreaching.]

Editor's Note: The conjecture that the author of the main body of work was one of the Borgia children arises chiefly from "Our Father" here in the tutor's hand. It is a clear double entendre, but there were  
other children of Popes whose juvenilia might have found its way into the Vatican's archive; Felice della Rovere, daughter of Pope Julius II, might have made such a reference, but she is less linked to poetry, historically speaking.

As for Lesbia's sparrow, its death as chronicled in the poetry of Catullus shows the poet's fondness for his beloved and all the things that belong to her. The tutor's reference evidences a desire to remind the student to interweave Classical referents into these verses in order to give them a greater weight.

Regarding the gender of the student, this is a highly feminine subject for any young man of the Renaissance to contemplate in sufficient depth to yield such a poem. It may be an experiment in understanding a future mate, but that is less likely.

  


 _Of the creation of beauty:_  
There dwells more beauty in the proper look  
Than swells in all the bosoms in the land  
For bared, they are but breasts, while eyes demand  
A recognition none can overlook.  
The truest heart is speared upon a hook  
Built not of bone nor bronze, and not by hand,  
But by the artifice that maids command  
That speaks of things that cannot be mistook.  
The fairest flower wilts when winter comes,  
The passing years will wrinkle every cheek,  
But none can dim the sparkle of an eye;  
As youthful beauty dims and then succumbs  
And fades into an elder, gray and meek,  
Men look away, unless they're held thereby.

 _Of the creation of beauty_ [with commentary]:  
There dwells more beauty in the proper look  
Than swells in all the bosoms in the land  
For bared, they are but breasts, while eyes demand  
A recognition none can overlook.  
The truest heart is speared upon a hook  
Built not of bone nor bronze, and not by hand,  
But by the artifice that maids command  
That speaks of things that cannot be mistook.

[What can one say to this but that you've learned]  
[Your lessons well, into your heart they're burned]  
[Like truths into a tablet made of stone]  
[But more, for you have made my words your own]  
[Transmuting them that they may spin on high]  
[A heavenly sphere, while other maidens sigh.]

The fairest flower wilts when winter comes,  
The passing years will wrinkle every cheek,  
But none can dim the sparkle of an eye;  
As youthful beauty dims and then succumbs  
And fades into an elder, gray and meek,  
Men look away, unless they're held thereby.

[May all the sparkle of your youth take root]  
[Into the heart of some fair, well-born youth]  
[Who'll bear you off, that you might bear him sons]  
[And may you hold his favor for all time]  
[That he may hope to dwell in Heaven's clime]  
[Forsaking not your bed, your buss, your breast]  
[Where I know these words have been impressed.]

Editor's Note: In the inferior, later couplets, there is a certain fondness expressed for the first writer. "Other maidens" does support the thesis that that the student is female, as does "that you might bear him sons." There is a maternal sense in the blessing given at the end, as well as a reminder of the importance of faith in the allusion to Mosaic tablets in the response to the octet. No young woman coming of age in the Vatican would have failed to grasp such an allusion, and in conjunction with the "Our Father" reference in the first response, it suggests that the tutor is training his or her poetical superior with the Pope's knowledge, and perhaps patronage.

  


 _Of the burdens of womanhood in a court:_  
The ladies of the court bedazzle all  
Bedizened in their finest gems and gowns  
With ropes of pearls weighing many pounds  
That draw the eye and hold it there in thrall.  
Their loveliness is armor; when it falls  
To our sweet maids to suffer husbands' frowns  
Or bear the weight of nations' heavy crowns  
We call on ladies twirling at the ball.  
They carry untold wealth with seeming ease  
And silks from far-off lands embrace their feet,  
Their slippers better traveled than their toes,  
But ladies' minds have learned without surcease  
To tread the paths of wisdom, just as fleet  
In politics as when the music flows.

 _Of the burdens of womanhood in a court_ [with commentary]:  
The ladies of the court bedazzle all  
Bedizened in their finest gems and gowns  
With ropes of pearls weighing many pounds  
That draw the eye and hold it there in thrall.

[She who jests with kings and jousts with words]  
[Must choose her phrase as carefully as swords]  
["Bedizened" here bespeaks a certain weight]  
[As of a ship weighed down with Arab freight.]

Their loveliness is armor; when it falls  
To our sweet maids to suffer husbands' frowns  
Or bear the weight of nations' heavy crowns  
We call on ladies twirling at the ball.

[The loveliness that falls is all so sad]  
[But we call on lasses and on lads]  
[Bare old enough to bear, but they must serve,]  
[From their beholden duty, never swerve.]

They carry untold wealth with seeming ease  
And silks from far-off lands embrace their feet,  
Their slippers better traveled than their toes,  
But ladies' minds have learned without surcease  
To tread the paths of wisdom, just as fleet  
In politics as when the music flows.

['Tis meet, my love, that you should go abroad]  
[To counsel condottieri, keep them awed,]  
[For you know stratagems in no man's book]  
[That all your brothers' wisdom cannot brook]  
[But your sweet voice will echo in my ears]  
[And when I think on you, I shall shed tears.]

Editor's Note: _Condottieri_ were the warlords or mercenaries who led armies in Italian city states in this period.

"Arab freight" carries far too many possible readings. The interactions of the Vatican's inhabitants with the Muslim world varied year on year, and the likelihood of any high-born lady knowing anyone she might describe as "an Arab" depended as much on the individual Pope's policies and fiscal needs as anything else in the Vatican. More prosaically, it may refer to trade between Italy and Arabic countries, bringing all the silks and gems that "bedizen" in these lines.

There are some records that suggest Lucrezia Borgia's acquaintance with a sultan's son, and this could be a reference to such an acquaintance, if she was the author of the verse, and if her tutor was aware of that relationship. However, this is conjecture in advance of all possible evidence.

The tears the final line promises are their own sort of evidence that either the tutor was fond of the student, or that he or she wished to appear so. With the absence of any written reply from the student, it is impossible to know how such weeping was received, or if it took place. The lines that suggest a long or permanent parting give the tears an extra weight.

  


 _Of the difficulty of fidelity:_  
The least and lowest peasant has a smile  
That shines upon the world like a song  
And she may charm a lord, but ere too long  
He'll ride away and leave her at her stile.  
The purest lady's gems may him beguile  
And keep him by her side, their time prolong,  
But only till her gems to him belong  
Then he seeks other beds to warm a while.  
No woman born can keep him with her flesh,  
No matter what her learning or her arts  
In lewdness or in loveliness, he goes.  
But she can tether him, her hands enclose  
His wandering before it ever starts  
If every day they start to love afresh.

[But men are men, my love, both serf and lord,]  
[And holy men live as the men of swords.]  
[No man will cease his wand'ring for a wife]  
[Unless he loves her more than he loves life.]

Editor's Note: The disillusionment evident in the mere quatrain of the commentary suggests frustration on the part of the tutor. If a man, he may have been besieged by his own wife, as accusations of infidelity were rife in this period. If a woman, she may have been betrayed just before the time of the writing by her husband or whatever man whose attention she favored.

The student's writing shows an innocence and hope that the tutor seems to wish to demolish entire, clearly before the student has any experience with betrayal of his or her own.

  


 _Of kisses and true love:_  
The teasing press of lips on lips was naught  
But love's first prayer, beginning with a word  
Caught in two mouths, unsaid but not unheard.  
Once understood, then kiss from kiss begot  
A flood of kisses; pleas to Venus sought  
To rise above the earth and fly like birds  
Until they reached Love's ear, with Her conferred,  
And won Her favor, so True Love was wrought.  
But deathless love was no strong shield nor true,  
For Love had slain Her lover when She must.  
She could not grant safe haven for a prayer  
And they were torn asunder to despair,  
To marry without love or hope of trust,  
And meet their chosen men with charm subdued.

 _Of kisses and true love:_ [with commentary]  
The teasing press of lips on lips was naught  
But love's first prayer, beginning with a word  
Caught in two mouths, unsaid but not unheard.  
Once understood, then kiss from kiss begot  
A flood of kisses; pleas to Venus sought  
To rise above the earth and fly like birds  
Until they reached Love's ear, with Her conferred,  
And won Her favor, so True Love was wrought.

[A kiss begets no matter but a kiss]  
[Unless it rises to a greater bliss]  
[As yours so often do upon my lips.]  
[A lesson learned at your fair fingertips:]  
[That every teacher learns as student's taught]  
[And those who seek to catch can, too, be caught]  
[But when you speak of truest love I fear]  
[That you must hide your heart in verses here.]

But deathless love was no strong shield nor true,  
For Love had slain Her lover when She must.  
She could not grant safe haven for a prayer  
And they were torn asunder to despair,  
To marry without love or hope of trust,  
And meet their chosen men with charm subdued.

[I am no lithe Adonis, nor are you,]  
[And marriage, sweet one, is a bargain true]  
[Wherein we give, and giving, we receive.]  
[At least with men of worth, I must believe]  
[Though I cannot imagine you at ease]  
[Unless your husband all your days does please.]

Editor's Note: The inclusion in the original of "meet their chosen men" suggests an affection between two women, both subject to another's decision regarding who they might marry. Or, to read it in a more probable light given the Renaissance attitudes toward female homosexuality, the poem speaks of multiple lovers' plights. There was no shortage of young women in love with a gallant who was of the wrong rank.

"All your days does please" may be a reference to the hope of all women in arranged marriages that their assigned spouses are pleasant, or--to hearken back to the more lascivious reading--it may hint at the tutor's fondness for the student, requited or otherwise.

Any such liaison would have had to have been secret, even in so proverbially debauched a Vatican as Alexander VI's. Bearing in mind that the allegations of incest were put forth by those who were his enemies, it stands to reason that any ladies of his family--or any other Popes--would have hesitated in earnest before they penned lines that could be read in such a scurrilous manner.

  


 _Of the Beautiful:_  
The beauty of her eyes is like the stars':  
A distant, perfect light shines from her soul  
Illumining the world. And like a scroll  
Inscribed with all men's wisdom, her tongue scars  
The heart that hears its words with hope; it bars  
The hearer from an innocence left whole.  
For innocence can fester, uncajoled  
By escapades of Venus or of Mars.  
But should her silken hand touch maidens' thighs  
They will not maidens be, nor mourn the loss  
Which seems a gain of wisdom, pleasure, trust,  
Unmarred by men's brutality and lust,  
And ere their ruby lips have lost their gloss  
They learn to be reflections of her eyes.

 _Of the Beautiful_ [with commentary]:  
The beauty of her eyes is like the stars':  
A distant, perfect light shines from her soul  
Illumining the world. And like a scroll  
Inscribed with all men's wisdom, her tongue scars  
The heart that hears its words with hope; it bars  
The hearer from an innocence left whole.  
For innocence can fester, uncajoled  
By escapades of Venus or of Mars.

[I bless the day, my lovely one, that we]  
[Unheeding all the bonds of man, thus free,]  
[Did rid you of that wart of "innocence"]  
[And sent your blushes running to commence]  
[A better state of life. A woman's pride]  
[That though the cardinals, Fathers, all may chide,]  
[Is stronger when she knows what joy can be]  
[And pride brings out the finest things in thee.]

But should her silken hand touch maidens' thighs  
They will not maidens be, nor mourn the loss  
Which seems a gain of wisdom, pleasure, trust,  
Unmarred by men's brutality and lust,  
And ere their ruby lips have lost their gloss  
They learn to be reflections of her eyes.

[I would not steal from you what you must bleed]  
[To show yourself the bride your state does need]  
[But ruby lips--those I would kiss again]  
[And should my tongue steal happily within,]  
[Pray, would you let me kiss you so all night?]  
[For I would bring you all the world's delight.]

Editor's Note: The previous verse makes reference to Venus, who is the likely object of this work. An ode to the Roman goddess of love may seem out of place in the oeuvre of a writer who was almost certainly a Catholic, but as a figure of perfect womanhood, there are few alternatives. The invocation of lust here precludes the reference to the Virgin Mary.

The historian E. R. Spinelli suggests that "The Beautiful" of the poem's title may be a reference to Giulia Farnese, known as "La Bella," but this tutorial response shows a more pronounced masculine identity than the previous ones. The references to kisses that do not destroy nominal virginity are the epitome of courtly love, directed toward a woman who cannot belong to the man who writes the verse. If the writer's tutor was of lower rank, and yet desired his pupil, then they would have been kept apart by the social order, as well as by the arranged marriage of said pupil.

However, "rid you of the wart of 'innocence'" suggests that some manner of defloration took place, and that the tutor is unashamed by his actions. The foremost question regarding this piece is how it managed to survive much past its creation, as any gentleman reading such words about his daughter would have been appalled, and the tutor dismissed at best.

That the poem persists to this day is a testament to the fondness the student must have felt for the tutor, and vice versa. It must have been secreted away most carefully, along with the other documents, so that no one who knew the identities of either party could see it from now until the present day, when we must wonder at it.

 

Conclusion:

Until the identity of the poet and tutor can be identified via handwriting analysis, all links remain conjecture. It may be that neither of them are known to us in the present day, or that these poems are the work of several hands trained by the same tutor. A similar tutoring style would account for a regularity in handwriting between individuals. The latter possibility would answer the questions of varying apparent gender, laying to rest all possible controversy and averting any further attacks upon the perceived characters of some of history's most maligned women. If the student proves to be a young man of the Vatican who chose to write from a woman's perspective on occasion, that would avert any accusaions of lasciviousness between a girl and her tutor.

Or, should handwriting analysis pinpoint the student as Lucrezia Borgia, the poems will lend a greater depth to an era of her life before she rose to prominence and notoriety. Whomever the tutor was, the depth of affection between them implies that she earned some regard in her youth.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my intrepid beta readers and their patience with my faux-Renaissance poetry.


End file.
